Relaxing in Cancun

I am still in shock that August is pretty much over! This month went by incredibly fast and I'm SO glad that Jaren and I were able to spend a week of it in Cancun. It was indescribably gorgeous and we loved it! Neither of us had ever been, so it was fun that it was a new experience for both of us. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort which is absolutely the way to go! All food and drinks were free (and tips were included in the price) so we didn't have to worry about spending tons of money on stuff like that. The service was amazing too--we were both very happy with the resort. Our room had a balcony with a breathtaking view of the beach/ocean, so that was nice to wake up to. The weather was hot and humid, so that took a little getting used to, but we were just happy that it was sunny. The forecast said that there would be showers every day, but it didn't rain once.

We went to Isla Mujeras one day, which is a little island off the coast. We rented scooters and just rode around the island--it has been a LONG time since I've ridden a scooter, so that was so fun for me. Jaren thought for sure I was going to kill myself--I only wobbled a few times, like when my helmet flew off and I tried to put it back with one hand and steer with the other. We spent an entire day going to Chichen Itza which is like 2 1/2 hours from Cancun, but so worth seeing. On the way back, we stopped at a cenote (which is spanish for sink hole) which is basically a huge hole full of water, which doesn't sound all that great, but it was gorgeous. It was very deep in the ground and surrounds by vines and plants and the water was cold and so refreshing after being outside all day in unbelievable heat. There was a 25 foot cliff you could jump from, so Jaren and I took turns jumping in the water and taking pictures of each other. We spent the rest of our time in the pool, on the beach (where we saw several weddings take place), sleeping, watching the Olympics late at night (we have been addicted this time around), talking, and towards the end, missing our kids! Six days didn't sound like too long to be away from them when I booked it (it actually sounded really nice), but we missed them like crazy. My mom was so great to come out here for that long. It was so fun to see them again and give them little presents that we bought them.

Speaking of shopping, the most surprising thing about our trip was that everything was incredibly expensive! I wasn't necessarily expecting things to be dirt cheap, but it was really hard to buy souvenirs that we could've bought at home for half the price. I found these cute little flip flops for Anslee and the guy selling them wouldn't go below $15--and it was hard to even get him that low. My rational side told me that she would never wear them and I've never paid that much for kids shoes, much less flip flops. So I had to walk. I remember reading hotel reviews and people saying that Cancun is not the Cancun of 15 years ago and I just thought they meant that is was very commercialized now. I had no idea they meant crazy prices. I guess that helped us to not spend too much at least.

The view from our balcony--how's that for a view??Chichen Itza--it was really an entire city. It was really fascinating to see such an ancient civilization This is their "basketball" court. You can see the hoops really high up on each wall

This is a throne--looks pretty uncomfortable if you ask me

There were tons of huge iguanas everywhere! Noah would have LOVED it--he's a huge animal fanatic right now, but that's another post

There were 5 restaurants at the resort and they all had dress codes, so I loved having something to dress up for

Jaren at the edge of the infinity pool--I love how it really looks like it's blending into the ocean

On the boat to Isla Mujeras

Riding scooters--notice the AMAZING water behind Jaren. So beautiful!

The cenote and that little speck of a person is Jaren jumping in


The only reason we wanted to come home. . . We bought these crazy animal hats and they both love wearing them. Anslee likes to wear hers so that she can just barely see